The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-11-05

tuo IIue Ou6 Is al dIS SumoHI III support
of it. 1t should go without saying that
law is truth. How do we satisfy
ourselves that certain things are laws
Is it not by the discovery that they are
universal ? They are laws because
under certain conditions they always
occur. Take the proposition that all
living physical beings require food.
No one disputes that, for it is univer-
sal fact.
Equally evident is it that the uni
verse meets this requirement. Food is
everywhere. The craving and the sat
isfaction are the two sides of the same
law. So it may be said that man in
every age and in every degree of civili-
zation has felt the hunger for God.
That is universal. The other side of
the law is the fact that this universal
hunger finds universal satisfaction.
Millions of voices utter the grand cry
II have found God" Then add to this
the significant fact that the very best
souls have in the past been perfectly
satisfied that God is, and that they have
felt the impress of his spirit upon their
spirits. That is expert testimony.
Expert testimony has a special value.
When l want information in regard to
the law of the land live in l do not go
to physician, though he may be able
to enlighten me. 1 go to a lawyer.
The lawyer, by giving his life to that
work, becomes expert in it. When l
want to find remedy for some danger
Gus disease l do not go to a carpenter,
though he may possibly be able to help
me. l go to doctor. want the help
Of an expert. When | listen to an
essay on Shakespeare my interest is
heightened when l know that the wri-
ter is loving and faithful student of
the immortal bard. And so when |
want testimony concerning the soul in
its relation to the Oversoul l must go
to the greatest souls that have lived
and not to men whose passions are low
and whose minds are superficial. The
great souls of the past have bowed in
humility before a mysterious and grand
and awful face which they have named
God, and in which they have detected
personality. If we must look to others
than ourselves for testimony on this
subject, let US look to the best.
But you may ask, are there no evil
dences of the existence of God which
the common mind can investigate
Yes, in these facts: l. The universe is
ineligible. It is not chaos; it is order
If it were chaos it would indeed be a
puzzle. 1t would be wonderful, but
quite unaccountable. 1t would be the
great Sphinx, hiding its awful secret in
its stony breast. But it is not that
The better illustration would be that of
a book in which are traced cuniform
inscriptions. Some devices seem strange
and valueless as the eye first beholds
them. 1t would be the great Sphinx.
hiding its awful secret in its stony
breast. But it is not that. Rather it
is book, on the pages of which are
written, in a language strange to the
unlearned, the story of God and of
Gods method. Learn the language,
and every line is luminous with mean
ing. Should we find some such book
and learning its language, discover its
import, we would instantly affirm the
fact that it had an intelligent origina-
tor. The universe is ineligible. Only
an intelligence can make itself intelli-
gible.
?. The universe reveals a purpose.
Purpose confronts us everywhere. At
mosphere has its purpose Sight has
its purpose. Everything is related to
something else as giver or recipient of
help. That cannot be the result of
blind or impersonal force.
3. The universe is sustained by an
unfailing force. There is in it an eter-
nal life. Forms decay Everything
has its generation and its degeneration.
Man, noblest of all forms, decays. Ma
tions disappear, temples and palaces
erumble, but life goes on endlessly
throughout the universe. Does not
this unfailing life proceed then from an
infinite spring, and is not that the be-
ing of God?
1. The universe is bathed in tran
scendent glory. The noblest creations
of man are but feeble limitations of the
beautiful designs in the natural world.
No human artist can paint light or
transfer TO canvas the glorious colors of
the sunset. What is human progress ?
Why should men grow pompous over
invention and art ? The greatest tri-
umph of human skill is but the discov-
cry Of the way in which God works.
So everywhere we touch and unfold
the infinite. If we are satisfied that
this is God our God-we must feel
that certain personal duties are recalled
in that knowledge. For one thing we
should be interested in God. No greater
object can engage our thought We are
interested in those who hold high of
fees in our midst. We crowd to see a